NCMM gathered at Son Spa in Akershus to participate in a scientific program packed with research insights covering the breadth of molecular medicine and to facilitate effective networking and opportunities for collaboration.
- It was an honour to welcome more than 80 participants from NCMM and its Associate Investigator network at Son to learn about the scientific research progress that has been made across the network in the past few years. Presenters received invaluable feedback and support from their peers, which I’m sure will positively impact their work going forward. We are all grateful for the hard work of the organisers, technical support and the speakers in making the retreat possible , says NCMM Director Professor Janna Saarela
Scientific Knowledge Sharing
After a warm welcome, the first day of the retreat kicked off with a session on Cellular and Molecular Biology, chaired by Group Leader Dr Nikolina Sekulic, as well as a talk from Anita Kavlie, National Co-ordinator for EATRIS Norway on the benefits of the EATRIS infrastructure for Norway-based researchers. The latter half of the day was centred on cancer research, with sessions chaired by Group Leader Dr Anthony Mathelier, and genetic research, with sessions chaired by Group Leader Dr Camila Esguerra.
Session: Cellular and Molecular Biology
- NCMM group leader Dr Nikolia Sekulic (chair)
- NCMM Associate Investigator Prof Anne Simonsen ('targeting mitochondria for selective autophagy')
- Dr Dario Segura Peña ('the structural basis of multi-step allosteric activation of Aurora B Kinase')
- Anita Kavlie ('European infrastructure for translational medicine - EATRIS)
Session: Cancer
- NCMM group leader Dr Anthony Mathelier (chair)
- NCMM Associate Investigator Prof Tero Aittokallio ('Predictive modelling of drug combination effects for precision oncology')
- NCMM Group Leader Dr Biswajyoti Sahu (‘Defining the cellular state and factors required for human cell transformation)
- Sophie Mottl (‘Molecular landscape of GNAS-associated medulloblastoma’)
- Ieva Rauluseviciute (‘Identification of transcription factor co-binding partners with non-negative matrix factorization’)
- Dr Tatiana Belova (‘Genome wide analysis of gene regulatory heterogeneity in cancer’)
The second day of the scientific program focused on immunity and blood disorder research, with two sessions chaired by NCMM Director Professor Janna Saarela.
Session: Immunity and Blood Disorders
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NCMM Director Professor Janna Saarela (chair)
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NCMM Associate Investigator Professor Christine Hanssen Rinaldo (‘Secretome profiling of BK polyomavirus infected cells: new clues to understand BKPyV persistence?’)
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NCMM Associate Investigator Dr Helene Knævelsrud (‘Identification of novel therapies for MLL rearranged leukemia using a Drosophila model’)
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Pavel Kopcil (‘Precise gene editing for selected primary immunodeficiencies’)
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Dr Yasaman Pakdaman (‘ADA2 in inherited errors of immunity’)
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NCMM Associate Investigator Dr Victor Greiff (‘Profiling the specificity of adaptive immunity’)
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Pavel Kopcil (‘Precise gene editing for selected primary immunodeficiencies’)
The retreat also presented the opportunity for networking. Social activities were organised by the social committee (Katalin Terezia Ferenc, Ana Sulen Tavara, Stine Malene Wøien, Eis Annavini, Romana-Tabita Pop, Johanna Lehtonen, Ingrid Kjelsvik, Carlos Romeo Rodriguez and Group Leader Dr Charlotte Boccara). The activities successfully created a cheerful atmosphere and attendees left having created stronger connections after three years without in-person events.
